Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-06-25
A FURNACE OF FLAME.
Miles of Fire Thousands Of Feet Under
Ground

Ground.
) Salt Lake Tribune.
The Comstock lode is of itself one @
. the worlds wonders. It is, moreover
: wonderful as spot in which the creates
! marvels of mining have been performed
When the great bonanza Wss beinl
worked 5000. 900 feet Of timber wer,
lowered into the depths and set in plac,
| monthly for forty months. Well, tina
mass OF timber has been on fir,
for two or three years past, and at las
has become so terrible q feature that il
must be subdued or that portion of the
great lode abandoned. Sometime ago /;
was hoped that the ire might be arrested
by bulkheads, end so solid walls OF
masonry were built sixteen feet in thick
ness to ward of the terrible fire. But
the TaiIs soon became hot and the fatal
gas generated by the ire found its Wsy
out into the open chambers of the mine
Something else had to be done, and so il
was determined to try to drown the
fire with carboniC acid gas The trial is
now under way, and Dan De guile, in
the Enterprise, gives description of it.
lt reads likes the description of battle
| between mortals aud gnomes. From the
/
| dense some naked facts. A furnace for
the manufacture OF the gas is placed in
position on the 1900 level Of the Ophir
mine. The furnace is iron, like q steam
boiler, lined with brick, and the mat 9riaI
used for the manufacture OF the gas is coke
and charcoal. The furnace is fed at one
end and the gas is discharged through
l2-inch pipe 81 the other The account
6Tof
very strong, and when the door is omen
the flames within roar like a blast fur
mace. Cast iron, Or any ordinary metal,
would be melted in moment in the g1est
heat. The furnace makes 10000 feet
Of carbonic gas dgily, and it is est.
mat q that fifty days will be re-
CURED to subdue the fire, as it is
believed that it fills = O00, OC0 feet Of the
mine. The pipe is at white heat when
the gas leaves the furnace. This is car
ried down TO tank or fume, eighty feet
in length, over which ten inches of water
flows constantly and cools it. Then the
pipe enters the main incline, still living in |
the trough, and goes down seventy-fve |
feet to the 100 level. The VS.
ter dashes down through the trough |
aud over and around the pipe with |
the noise of a small Niagara" On |
that levels the pipe enters the bulkhead, |
which ct this point is twenty-iour feet |
N thickness. The pipe is tamped in with |
clay, which is kept constantly vet. The
account says: ga tremendous draft in
side The bulkhesd sucks in the ceroonic
acid gas brought there through the pine.
When the culkhead WIS cut through for
the purpose of inserting the end Of the
pipe, all were astonished at the
draft that was disclosed. Ii was
so great that the workmen were
obliged to be on their guard against be-
ing sucked in and carried into the regions
Of Interior fire" This may appear to be
Al eXaggerstion, but an thermometer
placed in the current of cir showed it to
nave E velocity d SUI miles an hour. On
ne surface of the earth eighty miles an
lour IS thought To be an awful gale, but
here is gale Of 500 miles. This brings
nto ones mind at once thoughts of ire
nendous gaseous disturbances to Which {
he surface of the sun is subject. :
Of course this draft was not left open,
ne thrush OF air, combining with the !
,arbonic oxide gas within, being liable to
orm an explosive compound. The pips
vas in readiness, with it's lower end
l..
ne opening and the work OF filing in c
round it begun.
A the gas passes IN behind the bulk
cad, ii settles down into the :
Owest part Of the closed space.
eing heavier than the carbonic oxide
as within, and also heavier than atmos- c
heric air. There it VIII be stopped of
nd prevented sinking farther by water. O
hus Mi the iDciOsed snaca IN rubicb ero .bo
timbers will be filled up with =
arbonlc acid gas, which will displace the 1
arooDiC oxide gas, Just as water poured n
Ito bottle displact the air. :
When ell the burning section mas been =
lus filled up the fact will be known by 4
aroonlC acid gas flowing out through the {,
pe on the 1900 level through which =,
lie gas from the fire is now ea- ~
apiDg into the old Consolidated Virginia :,
Taft. ~
II may be stated that after the enclosed .,
elton shall have been filed to overflow NJ
g with carbonic acid gas it will be ~
lowed to so remain month n
two before any of the bulk n,
ads are opened. The opening will be n,
ry cautiously done, and only after car ~
mic acid gas has taken the place of the Ffr,
roonic oxide gas at the escape pipe. o.
lis may be known by severed Stests. A ~
ry simple one is to introduce the gas 20
to lime water, when 8 precipitate will Ct,
once be formed OF the contained lime. ~
The rock "A the mine will contain iaas -
ong time, but this may be overcome by ~,
use of water thrown on through q H,
sc once the fire is out and the gas ~;
ne. VI